"Hatch Attack": That's the nickname for Murray State head coach Chris Hatcher's air-it-out offense. It's a derivation from the pass-happy Air Raid that Hal Mumme made so popular while coach at Kentucky in the late 1990s and Mike Leach then carried to Oklahoma as an assistant and Texas Tech as a head coach. Hatcher, an assistant on Mumme's staff at UK, is one of several former Mumme or Leach disciples who have taken the Air Raid system to other spots. The list includes Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia head coach), Mark Mangino (ex-KU coach), Art Briles (Baylor head coach), Sonny Dykes (Cal head coach). You get the point. There's really no point in a deep explanation of the system. Just know that these guys run a fast-paced, no-huddle, pass-crazed scheme. Last season, for instance, Murray State averaged 48 pass attempts a game and more than 340 yards through the air a game. The Racers called a pass more than 65 percent of the time, when factoring in sacks, and they ran 82 plays a game. New QB: The Racers lost decorated quarterback Casey Brockman, a record-setting All-American who threw 28 TDs last season and just 10 picks. The replacement will be Ole Miss transfer Maikhail Miller, a 6-3, 230-pound Mississippi native who was ranked by Rivals.com as the 23rd-best pro-style QB out of high school two years ago. Miller was a reserve QB at Ole Miss and had struggled with accuracy. Hatcher, surely, was glad to take a guy who accounted for 36 TDs and ran and threw for more than 1,100 yards each during his senior year of high school. Miller beat out a couple of QBs during fall camp. The guy to stop: That'd be receiver Walter Powell, a pre-season First Team FCS All-American by most outlets. The St. Louis native had 94 catches for 1,213 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Oh, and he had 905 return yards. Even in a blowout loss at Florida State last season, Powell had nine catches for 62 yards. He had at least seven catches in nine games last season. As a kick and punt returner, Powell averaged 26 yards a kick return and 15 yards on punts. He returned two punts for TDs. In all, Powell accounted for more than one-quarter of Brockman's completions last year. He averaged about 190 all-purpose yards a game, placing him No. 2 in the FCS in 2012.

Defense

118: That's what Murray State ranked in total defense in the FCS last season. There are 121 FCS teams. The Racers gave up 513 yards a game in 2012. Across the board, the defense ranked in the triple digits in every category: 106th (3rd down conversion defense), 120th (first downs allowed), 105th (interceptions), 112th (pass efficiency defense), 115th (red zone defense), 121st (passing defense), 101st (rushing defense), 118th (scoring defense). There is a reason that Murray State has all new defensive coaches. No, really. Every defensive coach is in his first season, from the coordinator to the linebackers, defensive line and secondary, they're all new. Changes abound: As is the case often with such a poor defense and five new defensive coaches, the scheme will change. Murray State is switching to a 3-4 defense under new coordinator Dennis Therrell. The personnel is likely to change, too. The Racers picked up a linebacker transfer from Louisville, Jalen Harrington. They've also added three junior college defensive ends and another JUCO linebacker. A UNLV transfer is expected to help out the secondary, too. Points on top of points on top of points: Murray State's defense allowed 41 points a game last season, ranking them (as mentioned above) 118th in the FCS. In three games, the Racers' offense scored 49, 59 and 35 points — and the team lost. They allowed 50 or more points three times and Florida State hit the 69-point mark in the opener. Murray State games last season featured an average total of 80 points. Eighty.

Closing thoughts: Quarterback James Franklin and Missouri's offense will have every opportunity in this game to roll up massive amounts of points and yards against a Murray State defense that was arguably the worst in FCS last season. Hitting 50 points isn't out of the question and might be expected from an offensive unit that showed signs during fall camp of meshing well. Expecting Murray State's offense to challenge Missouri's defense might be a stretch. After all, the Racers are breaking in a new quarterback in a pass-heavy system, though that QB (Miller) was a Division I player.

The Spread: Missouri -38 (as of Monday)

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